Propulsion and Control of long endurance unmanned marine vehicles

该项目的总体目标是使无人海上车辆能够执行目前由于可用功率限制和相对较差的推进系统效率而不可能完成的长航时任务。更具体地说，该研究计划将重点发展(a)用于中小型水面和水下航行器（排水量< 1000公斤）的新一代高效推进系统(b)利用风和洋流等环境条件的先进设计和控制策略，以显着提高相对较小的无人海上航行器的续航力。推进系统要采取的方法是将实验室实验、商业上可用的数值工具和现场评估结合起来，形成一个闭环性能优化系统。这种方法可以覆盖一个大的设计空间，对结果有必要的信心，这是通过有限但具有代表性的一系列实验室和现场实验建立起来的。同样，在更大的范围内，使用现有的数值海洋预测工具以及当地感知的环境因素，即风和洋流，将被用作无人驾驶车辆控制和导航系统的输入，以便计算(a)到理想目标位置或区域的可行和可能的(b)最佳轨迹。加拿大毗邻太平洋、大西洋和北冰洋三大洋，拥有世界上最长的海岸线。北极主权、北极资源开发和气候变化是加拿大、加拿大政府、加拿大自然资源部门和海洋科学家面临的主要问题。有效探索、绘制海洋地图和监测海洋的能力受到现有资源的限制。无人驾驶和自动化系统将在这些任务中发挥重要作用。要做到这一点，关键是要有可以轻松运输到偏远地区的系统，并且可以在不需要重要基础设施的情况下长时间运行。本研究计划利用我在水下滑翔机研究方面的经验和成功经验。滑翔机的续航时间长达6个月，可以覆盖超过1000公里的距离。然而，这是以非常有限的传感器封装和缓慢的速度为代价的。从商业和科学上海洋滑翔机的成功以及它们的重大局限性中，人们意识到推进是这些类型飞行器的主要动力消耗，因此对整体续航能力和航程有重大影响。这适用于大多数（如果不是全部的话）电动汽车。通过开发一种更高效的推进系统，水面和水下的小型车辆将变得更有能力，并且能够在外面停留更长时间来探索、绘制地图或监测偏远地区。将高效设计与考虑电流和风的控制策略相结合，将进一步提高续航能力，并有助于在这些恶劣环境中建立更可持续的远程存在。

Objective The overarching objective of this program is to enable unmanned marine vehicles to conduct long endurance missions that are currently impossible, due to constraints in available power and relatively poor propulsion system efficiency. More specifically this research program will focus on the development of (a) A new generation of highly efficient propulsion systems for small and medium scale surface and underwater vehicles (<1,000kg displacement) (b) Advanced design and control strategies that take advantage of environmental conditions, such as winds and currents, to significantly enhance the endurance of relatively small unmanned marine vehicles. Scientific Approach The approach to be taken for the propulsion system is to combine laboratory experiments, commercially available numerical tools and field evaluations into a closed loop performance optimization system. This approach allows covering a large design space with the necessary confidence in the results, which is being established through a limited but representative series of laboratory and field experiments. Similarly on a larger scale the usage of existing numerical ocean prediction tools as well as locally sensed environmental factors, i.e. winds and currents, will be used as an input into a control and navigation system for unmanned vehicles in order to compute (a) a feasible and possibly (b) an optimal trajectory to a desired target location or area. Novelty and Significance Canada, bordering three oceans, the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean, has the world's longest coastline. Arctic sovereignty, resource development in the Arctic and Climate change are major issues for Canada, its government, its natural resource sector and to ocean scientists. The ability to efficiently explore, map and monitor our oceans is limited by the available resources. Unmanned and automated systems will play a major role in these tasks. A key to do this is to have systems available that can be easily transported into remote areas and can operate for extended periods of time without the necessity of significant infrastructure. The proposed research program leverages my experiences and successes of my research with underwater gliders. Gliders have an endurance of up to 6 months and can cover distances exceeding 1000km. However this comes at the cost of very limited sensor packages and slow speed. Learning from the commercial and scientific successes of ocean gliders and their significant limitations, one realizes that propulsion is the major power drain of these types vehicles and therefore has a significant impact on overall endurance and range. This holds true for most if not all electrically powered vehicles. By developing a more efficient propulsion system, smaller vehicles, for the surface and underwater, will become more capable and will be able to stay out longer to explore, map or monitor remote areas. Combining the efficient design with control strategies that take currents and winds into account will further improve the endurance and will help to establish a more sustainable remote presence in these harsh environments.